1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for controlling an output environment of an external output control device, and more particularly to an information processor, an information processing method, and a computer program product to automatically control an output environment of a video device and an audio device externally connected.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, to reproduce and output video to a monitoring device, a user has set resolution suitable for an image output device, such as a projector and a monitoring device, and output the video to the monitoring device. Furthermore, there have been developed monitoring devices that automatically set resolution correspondingly to an image output device and output an image while saving the user the trouble of setting the resolution.
If the user specifies the resolution for output of an image as in the conventional technology, however, the capacity of an output device that outputs video and audio may not possibly be fully exercised. Furthermore, even in the system that automatically determines the resolution, the resolution of the output device may possibly reduce the video size excessively, thereby making it hard to see the video. In a video conference, sound multiplex broadcasting, and digital terrestrial broadcasting, for example, images supplied from a plurality of sources may be displayed on a single monitor screen by dividing the monitor screen. In such a case, if the resolution is not adjusted correspondingly to the division of the monitor screen, the images displayed on the monitor screen may not possibly be displayed properly.
If an audio output monitoring device supporting an audio-visual (AV) data reproduction protocol, such as high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), is used, for example, a change in relative positions of a speaker and a microphone may possibly cause feedback. Conventionally, there have been developed technologies for addressing the problems described above. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-61220, for example, discloses a technology for controlling a phone conference system with hundreds of participants. The phone conference system includes a plurality of nodes that communicate with one another to establish a conference. Each node includes a video display having a display layout, and at least one of the nodes controls the display layout of each node in the conference at least partially and individually in a specific format that can be unique to each node.
The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-61220 is a technology for controlling the display layout of video displayed on the video display in the phone conference system in the format unique to each node. The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-61220, however, does not intend to appropriately display moving images or video supplied from other nodes on a plurality of respective display areas while automatically optimizing the capacity of a monitoring device. Furthermore, the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2008-61220 does not intend to output video transmitted from independent nodes on a plurality of respective areas on a monitor screen without putting a burden on the eyes and ears of the user.